A, Resurrection of our Lord, Easter Sunday - Acts 10:34–43 "No Partiality"

Acts 10:34–43 (ESV) So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality,  but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.  As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all),  you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed:  how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.  And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree,  but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear,  not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.  And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead.  To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.

God shows no partiality over humanity.  God shows no partiality over sin.  God shows no partiality over forgiveness.  God shows no partiality over unbelief.  This is the message of the blood stained cross.  This is the message of the empty tomb.  This is the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection. 

In dealing with humanity’s sin and death God showed no partiality, but in his work of salvation he is very bias with whom he chose to work.  This was the work of blessing all humanity through God’s favoured few.  God couldn’t associate with unholiness,  he could not show partiality to sin.  If God did show partiality to sin, or unholiness, the purity of his holiness would be desecrated, and he would prove himself to not be God.

God could have destroyed humanity, but God would have place himself in a dilemma if he did so.  God is a God of faithfulness; faithfulness is the substance of his divinity, he is faithful to himself, in himself, and towards those with whom he exists, in his eternal realm, visible and invisible, as it were.  This faithfulness manifests itself as love.  God is love!  God’s love shows no partiality.  God’s love expects no partiality.  God is a jealous God, a protective God.

God shows no partiality.  God believes in himself, there is nothing in his being he does not know, nothing in what he expects that cannot be done.  He is faithful and generous and shows no partiality in his desire to be faithful and compassionate, jealously expecting all things exist under his protection and love.  

God chose Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  He chose Joseph and Moses in Egypt.  He chose Joshua and the Judges, Samuel, and David.  He favoured the tribe of Judah over the other tribes of Israel.  In God’s favouritism towards the Jews and Jerusalem God showed no partiality, for through them God was seeking to bless all nations, to love all people through one  nation.  To favour all people, by favouring his chosen people.  So, through them, all people might come to favour him above all things. 

By reconnection to humanity through the Law, God showed no partiality demanding everyone to: “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37 ESV, Deuteronomy 6:5)  And: “love your neighbour as yourself.” (Matthew 22:39 ESV, Leviticus 19:18)  But they failed in the Law, and chose to love themselves in the Law, knowing that God shows no partiality.

So, God sent Jesus.  In Jesus Christ the Kingdom of God was near.  Jesus Christ was sent to do what Israel could not do, to do what we could not do, to do what humanity could not do.  In doing what Israel could not do, the Son of God took on the servant role as the Son of Man.  God showed no partiality to his Son, Jesus Christ, Son of Mary, Son of man.

Jesus became the new Israel to save Israel.  God promised to Abraham, “in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” (Genesis 12:3)  Now that promise is fulfilled in Jesus Christ.   Jesus Christ became the new Adam to save all of Adam’s offspring.  Jesus Christ is Lord of all, all Israelites, all Gentiles, all of humanity, all of creation.  Jesus Christ gave us back our connection with God our Father!  In restoring us to God, God the Son showed no partiality!  Not even to his own divinity.

So faithful to the Father of Heaven was Jesus Christ, this Created Creator became so low, being shunned by all humanity as unholy.  He claimed no majesty, he claimed no beauty, through our desire we beat the Servant of Man black and blue.  God the Son showed no partiality, not even to himself, putting aside his divinity, so God the Father could show no partiality to the sins of Israel, and the sin of Adam.  

Jesus Christ, lay aside his divinity, he chose to put off his partiality of being God the Son, and serve as the Son of Man.  In showing no partiality to humanity, our Heavenly Father sent God the Holy Spirit into his Servant, the Son of Man.  The Holy Spirit showed no partiality in his work of helping the Son of Man be the Servant of many.

When Jesus put aside his divinity, his human spirit showed no partiality towards anything or anyone but our Father in Heaven.  He loved our Father above all things and the Holy Spirit rested on the Servant of Man, showing to humanity the source of power to do the good that leads to eternal life.

God shows no partiality.  He believes in you so much he sent his Son to bear the brunt of his impartial hatred against humanity’s sin and your death and placed the Holy Spirit within you so you might have the power to believe and receive his Son.

When you were baptised, God showed no partiality, he did not waver in condemnation of sin, nor the forgiveness of it.  You were baptised into Jesus’ death.  God shows no partiality in sending the Holy Spirit to you in your Holy Baptism.  God the Holy Spirit shows no partiality in filling those who hear the Word of God with faith in the forgiveness of sins.  God shows no partiality over your sin!

God shows favouritism to those who are perfect; those who are holy as he is holy.  Therefore, God raised Jesus Christ from the dead, having been the perfect and blameless Servant of Man, but at the same time being the sacrifice to put our sin right. 

God shows no partiality in daily raising sinners from death, when they trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sin, just as God the Holy Spirit together with God the Father raised the Son of Man from the dead.

God the Father has raised the Son of Man to his right hand, the Son of Man is the Son of God, in all his risen glory.  God the Father and God the Son, show partiality and favouritism towards those who believe that God shows no partiality over condemning sin and his work of forgiveness, when they confess sin and believe they are forgiven for Jesus’ sake.

You are acceptable to God.  He shows no partiality, he shows no partiality towards unbelief in the Son of Man, no belief in the Son of God, in the forgiveness of sin, in the work of the Holy Spirit within you, and in the resurrection to eternal life.

He does not judge you and me with shallow judgement.  He has no part with those who are apart from him!  But he judged Jesus Christ, setting him apart, and shows no partiality to those who are partial towards him and do not believe.

Let us pray.  Lord God, we believe, save us from our unbelief.  We know you show no partiality towards sin, and therefore show no partiality against those who believing in Jesus Christ and  confess their sin.  We believe Lord, save us from our unbelief by sending the Holy Spirit, inspiring faith within to continually confess sin and believe in Jesus Christ throughout all our trials in this life, Amen.

C, Resurrection of our Lord, Easter Sunday - 1 Corinthians 15:22–26 "Nailed to Jesus"

1 Corinthians 15:22–26 (ESV) For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.  But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.  Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.  For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.  The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

The proclamation of Jesus Christ does one of two things!  It causes belief or it causes unbelief!  For the person who believes, knows they are a sinner and freely accepts what Jesus does for them. 

But one who doesn’t believe, rejects his work, for whatever reason, and continues on being his enemy.

The criminals crucified on the cross paint a good picture of humanity and their acceptance or rejection of Jesus.  Jesus as friend or foe!

In the gospels there seems to be a discrepancy over how the two criminals treat Jesus.  In Matthew and Mark’s Gospel accounts, both the criminals revile Jesus, along with everyone else.  These two accounts demonstrate Jesus’ complete humiliation, but in Luke we hear differently. 

Luke’s Gospel says, “One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, ‘Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!’  But the other rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?  And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.’  And he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’  And he said to him, ‘Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.’” (Luke 23:39–43 ESV)

Modern day scholarship, focusing on exact detail, might assume one view to be wrong.  However, the criminals and Jesus hung there for a period of time.  I would expect if I was hanging on a cross, I would say and do anything to get off it and be relieved of pain.  So too the criminals hanging there, hearing the jeers of those standing around making fun would have railed at him too!  Not in disbelief that he would not save himself though!  But they railed him to save himself in the hope they too would be rescued.  But they are not rescued, and nor does Jesus save himself.

Both men crucified beside Jesus are both criminals.  Both are there because they were caught in their crime.  Both do not want to die but live.  But both know they will die.

It’s at this point I get a picture in my head, of the Industry Superannuation advertisement, where one puts their future in the advertised super and holds their hands in that diamond box shape as they ascend up an escalator.  The picture represents their superannuation profits rising faster than the other who doesn’t use the advertised super.

In the same way, the one criminal, who has been invested only in himself, has a lucid moment, and scalds the other crucified criminal still reviling Jesus.  Instead of holding up a shape of a diamond box, he holds up Jesus and puts his death into Jesus hands.  Perhaps instead of making a diamond box with his hands,  in his heart he makes the shape of his Saviour’s cross and says, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”  From little things big things grow, so the jingle in the advert goes.  So, from a glimmer of faith, Jesus causes big things to happen to the guilty criminal, saying, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Imagine here today, that we are there that first Sunday Easter morning.  We see the crosses now empty on Calvary.  The tomb is empty, it’s the first day of the week.  Jesus has died, Jesus has risen.  But what of the two criminals?  How did their investments pay off?

They both now exist outside of time.  One experienced Jesus as he descended into and passed through hell on the Sabbath, knowing forever and smarting that he missed having a Saviour by “that much”.

The other criminal has ascended hand in hand, with his Saviour, the firstfruits of heaven, with Abel, the first human to die, and with everyone since, who trusts in God’s Saviour.

Are you there with them at the ascension?  Or have you seen the backside of Jesus, as he has departed hell forever, and you now live in eternal separation from God?  The itches of pleasure you placed your trust in, now eternally nailed to you as festering forever sores, but still itching without relief.

The two criminals on the cross are a perfect picture for humanity.  Like the criminals we are all eternally guilty as enemies.  Like the criminals we will have our guilt nailed out for all to see as God sees it now.  Like the criminals we can do absolutely nothing to remove the guilt of our sins and the guilt from its reality.  But like the one criminal we can appeal to one who can save us.

This criminal came to know he was nailed beside a king.  He was nailed up beside the King of Kings, the King of Heaven.  He reviled this king yet still entered the Paradise of Heaven.  He was a sinner but was saved by a Saviour.  He turned to Jesus, from being a foe, to being a friend.  He now worships God in heaven for his salvation! 

But in heaven, there is only one who still bears the scars of the cross, and everyone worships him, our Lord and Saviour, who bears these healed wounds.  The criminal no longer bears the scars of his nails, that is, his sin, since he now glorifies God with a risen and glorified body.

You too will have all your scars of sin removed forever.  Like the criminal, you will have the blood of the Lamb wash you clean, and you will enter paradise to worship God the Father, Jesus Christ, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, in all their oneness and glory.

But for now, as we wait in time, you remain nailed on your cross!  So, carry your cross, and like the guilty criminal, look to Jesus on his cross.  Like the criminal, you too are guilty, like the criminal you too will die, but like the criminal you too will receive the sentence of eternal life.  You are in Paradise with him today! 

O the sweet joy this sentence gives, to know my Redeemer lives on this day of sweet, sweet, resurrection victory.  Amen.

C, Epiphany 3 - Luke 4:14–21 "It's Time to Come to Church"

 Luke 4:14–21 (ESV) And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country.  And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.  And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read.  And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,  “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,  to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”  And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down.  And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.  And he began to say to them,“Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

This is the start of Jesus’ ministry.  And where does he find himself?  In a congregation, amongst God’s people with God's Word!  He's been brought there by the Holy Spirit.  And there he does not bring them new word but Word from Scripture which they would have heard and considered many times before.

The Holy Spirit rested on him in his baptism.  Led him into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan.  And now brings him into the synagogue to proclaim the Word of God; to fulfil the Old Testament Scriptures.

Jesus announces he is the one to bring good news to the poor; freedom to slaves and those afflicted; sight to the blind, and favour or a holy jubilee from the Lord.

But first to the pattern.  This pattern is easily overlooked!  The Holy Spirit works within a very precise structure.  He does so because he is God, he proceeds from God the Father and God the Son, and he inspired peopled to write down the Word of God.  Therefore, the Holy Spirit chooses to work through the Word of God!

All the way through his ministry, Jesus goes from synagogue to synagogue and on the Sabbath day, finds himself in the presence of God’s people and God’s Word.

In the synagogue at Nazareth, he is given Isaiah to read, and he reads from chapter sixty-one, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,  to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.” (Luke 4:18–19 ESV)

When Jesus finishes the reading from Isaiah, he gives the scroll back and preaches a one sentence sermon, saying, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:21 ESV)

Unfortunately, I cannot preach a one sentence sermon.  Not because I have more to say than Jesus!  But rather, because I am not Jesus.

All the Old Testament pointed forward to the Messiah.  A Messiah anointed by the Holy Spirit.  Jesus preaches a one sentence sermon, but its preface is everything written about him beforehand under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. 

But what is it the Holy Spirit is anointing the Messiah to do?

First, he is anointed to preach the Gospel to the poor.  The poor are beggars, and beggars beg for mercy.  With outstretched arms those who truly know their predicament and trust Jesus over all things will cry out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Luke 18:38 ESV)  Just as the blind beggar Bartimaeus did, when Jesus of Nazareth was entering Jericho, on his way to Jerusalem and death on the cross.

But it was not just a word of good news that the poor received, it was also release from captivity, a recovery from clouded sight, and deliverance from the madness of being overlooked.  The poor and the blind and the oppressed would have a new start in the Lord’s favour. 

This favour was greater than the jubilee of the Old Testament.  Every fifty years was a jubilee, debt was released, and people got their property back.  Here, Jesus was led by the Spirit to declare the eternal release to the poor, the captives, the blinded, and the oppressed.  All those held down by their sin and the sin of others. 

People get their life back through the life and death of Jesus of Nazareth.

Just as the Holy Spirit led Jesus, our lives in Christ are led in the pattern of the Holy Spirit.  And through the Holy Spirit’s work, we get our lives back.  The Holy Spirit wills those to trust in Jesus for sight and faith, for release from captivity and oppression, and to cry out for mercy!  The Holy Spirit wills us with his pattern and we see the pattern at work in Jesus.

What is the pattern of the Holy Spirit for you?  What is the Holy Spirit’s will for you?

We get a glimpse of what it is when Jesus sends out the seventy-two followers and they return to him having been given power over Satan.  We hear from Luke ten… 

In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I  thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.  All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” (Luke 10:21–22 ESV)

Just like the seventy-two sent out by Jesus, you have been sent out from this place in the Word of God, in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Just as Jesus went out and came in, by the power of the Spirit you too come in as beggars but go out rich in the Word of God.  Jesus reveals his Father to you!

You have come in as captives but have been free from eternal death in the forgiveness of sins.  You have sought mercy to be released from the depression and maddening oppression of your old Adam.  You have been given the promise of an eternal inheritance in the glory of God the Father.

Just as Jesus came into the synagogue and the seventy-two came to him, you have come here to church, led by the Holy Spirit, gathered together in our Messiah, Jesus Christ, all forgiven members of the one body under our head, Jesus Christ. 

The Holy Spirit has brought us here to be taught by Jesus Christ in the Word of God, and through his word the Heavenly Father is revealed to us, his little children, his church.  We his children in his church are his weak ones – poor, captives, blind, and oppressed. 

Today is the first day of the new week.  Today is the first day of the new creation in Christ.  It is also the eighth day of the old week.  It is the day of resurrection from sins of the last seven days of the old creation.  We are sent out bearing his victory.  The sin which we all carry; the poverty, the captivity, the blindness, and the oppression, is now covered under his cloak of victory over sin.

When you have doubt about the power of God to cover and forgive your sin, Jesus tells us to ask for the Holy Spirit.  “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”(Luke 11:13 ESV)

If Jesus is led by the power of the Holy Spirit!  If he tells you to ask for the Holy Spirit!  If Jesus praises God in the joy of the Holy Spirit!  And, if you are his child and we are his children!  If Jesus was led into God’s congregation on the sabbath, if he fulfilled the Sabbath by resting in the grave and descending into hell between Good Friday and Easter Sunday!

Then surely, we will receive the greater gift of the Gospel, the forgiveness of sins and peace with God the Father, when we come to church to be forgiven and fed on the day of his resurrection. 

Jesus finds himself with his people on the Sabbath.  Find yourself with Jesus and his other forgiven sinners on the day of his resurrection.  Let the Holy Spirit place you in his weekly pattern, in church.  It’s time to come to church!

In church you receive the will of God the Father, the will of God the Son, and the will of God the Holy Spirit.  Amen.